mondoarchive(8)                                                mondoarchive(8)



[1mNAME[0m
       mondoarchive - a backup / disaster-recovery tool.


[1mSYNOPSIS[0m
       [1mmondoarchive -O [22m[ [4moptions[24m ] : backup your PC
       [1mmondoarchive -V [22m[ [4moptions[24m ] : verify your backup


[1mDESCRIPTION[0m
       [4mmondoarchive[24m  backs  up a subset of your files, your entire filesystem,
       or even images of non-Linux filesystems to CD's, tape, ISO images or an
       NFS  mount. In the event of catastrophic data loss, you will be able to
       restore everything, taking a PC from bare metal to its  original  state
       if necessary.

       With  [1m-O[22m,  it  backs  up your filesystem to CD, tape, ISO images or NFS
       share. Boot media or a special boot CD will be created to allow you  to
       restore from bare metal if necessary.

       With  [1m-V[22m,  it  verifies  the  backup  against the live filesystem. This
       option may be used in combination with [1m-O [22mto verify a backup after  its
       creation, or on its own to see how much the live filesystem has changed
       since the backup was made.

       Call mondoarchive [1mwithout flags [22mto make it auto-detect as many settings
       as  possible, ask you politely for the rest, and then backup and verify
       your OS or a subset thereof.

       To restore data, either run [4mmondorestore[24m from the command line or  boot
       from  the emergency media generated during the backup process. The lat-
       ter will come in handy if a gremlin wipes your hard disk.


[1mBACKUP MEDIA[0m
       You must specify one of the following:-


       [1m-c [4m[22mspeed[24m     Use CD-R drive as backup device and its (write-once) disks
                    as backup media.


       [1m-w [4m[22mspeed[24m     Use  CD-RW  drive as backup device and its (write/rewrite)
                    disks as backup media.  Mondo will wipe media before writ-
                    ing to them.


       [1m-r           [22mUse  DVD  drive  as  backup device and its disks as backup
                    media. Growisofs decides on the best speed for your drive.
                    Note  that calling mondoarchive [1musing sudo when writing to[0m
                    [1mDVDs will fail [22mbecause growisofs does not support  this  -
                    see the growisofs manpage for details.


       [1m-C [4m[22mspeed[24m     Use  CD-R  drive as a streaming device, almost like a tape
                    streamer. Use write-once disks as backup  media.   [1mExperi-[0m
                    [1mmental.[0m


       [1m-p [4m[22mprefix[24m    Use  [1mprefix  [22mto  generate the name of your ISO images.  By
                    default, mondoarchive names images mondorescue-1.iso, mon-
                    dorescue-2.iso,  ...   Using  [1m-p  machine  [22mwill  name your
                    images machine-1.iso, machine-2.iso, ...


       [1m-i           [22mUse ISO files (CD images) as backup media.  This  is  good
                    for  backing  up your system to a spare hard drive. The [1m-n[0m
                    switch is a wiser choice if you plan  to  restore  from  a
                    remote filesystem.


       [1m-n [4m[22mmount[24m     Use  files  residing  on  NFS  partition  as backup media.
                    [4mmount[24m     is     the     remote     mount-point,      e.g.
                    '192.168.1.3:/home/nfs'  for  my file server. Please mount
                    it before backing up/verifying.


       [1m-t           [22mUse tape streamer as backup device and its tapes as backup
                    media.


       [1m-U           [22mUse a generic USB device as backup device. Use this if you
                    want to write your backup to a USB key or USB disk,  which
                    will  be make bootable.  The USB device should be attached
                    to the system ir order for this to  work  and  its  device
                    name  passed  to  the [1m-d [22moption.  [1mWARNING: All the data on[0m
                    [1mthe related device will be removed.[0m


       [1m-u           [22mUse a generic streaming device as backup device. Use  this
                    if  you  want to write your backup to a device that is not
                    directly support by mondoarchive. This will send the  data
                    directly to a raw device.  [1mFor experienced users only.[0m


[1mMAJOR OPTIONS[0m
       [1m-D           [22mMake  a  differential  backup:  examine the filesystem and
                    find which files have changed since the last  full  backup
                    was carried out. Backup only those files.


       [1m-E [4m[22m"path[24m [4m..."[0m
                    Exclude path(s) from backup. The paths should be separated
                    with a whitespace.  Note that mondo automatically excludes
                    removable  media  (/mnt/floppy,  /mnt/cdrom,  /proc, /sys,
                    /tmp). For example, if you are backing up to an NFS  mount
                    but  you  do not want to include the contents of the mount
                    in a backup, exclude  your  local  mount-point  with  this
                    switch. It will also work with partitions, e.g.  /dev/sdd4
                    if you have a peculiar SCSI zip  drive  which  insists  on
                    showing  up in the mountlist. NB: If you exclude /dev/sdd4
                    then the /dev entry itself will still be backed  up,  even
                    though  the  mountlist entry will be suppressed.  N.B.: If
                    you specify a directory with a final / its content will be
                    archived so it won't do what you expect.


       [1m-I [4m[22m"path[24m [4m..."[0m
                    Include paths(s) in backup. The default backup path is "/"
                    but you may specify alternatives, e.g. -I "/home /etc"  to
                    override that.


       [1m-J [4m[22mfile[24m      Specify  an  explicit  list  of  files  and directories to
                    include in a plain text file, one item (file or directory)
                    per  line. Beware that directories placed in that file are
                    not managed recursively contrary to what is done with  the
                    -I option.


       [1m-N           [22mExclude  all  mounted  network filesystems. This currently
                    means NFS, SMB, Coda, MVFS, AFS OCFS and Netware. In other
                    words, only backup the local hard disk(s).


       [1m-d [4m[22mdev|dir[24m   Specify  the  backup  device  (CD/tape/USB)  or  directory
                    (NFS/ISO). For CD-R[W] drives, this is the SCSI node where
                    the drive may be found, e.g. '0,1,0'. For tape users, this
                    is the tape streamers /dev entry, e.g. '/dev/st0'. For USB
                    users,  this  is  the  device name of your key or external
                    disk. For ISO users, this is the directory where  the  ISO
                    images  are  stored.  For NFS users, this is the directory
                    within the NFS mount where the  backups  are  stored.  The
                    default for ISO and NFS is '/root/images/mondo'.


       [1m-g           [22mGUI  mode.  Without this switch, the screen output of mon-
                    doarchive is suitable for processing by an 'expect'  wrap-
                    per,  enabling  the user to backup nightly via a cron job.
                    However, if you want to run this program with  an  attrac-
                    tive but non-cron-friendly interface then use '-g'.


       [1m-k [4m[22mpath[24m      Path  of user's kernel. If you are a Debian or Gentoo user
                    then specify [1m-k FAILSAFE [22mas your  kernel.  Otherwise,  you
                    will rarely need this option.


       [1m-m           [22mManual  (not  self-retracting) CD trays are often found on
                    laptops. If you are a laptop  user,  your  CD  burner  has
                    BurnProof technology or you experience problems with mondo
                    then please call mondoarchive with this switch.


       [1m-o           [22mUse LILO as boot loader of  boot  media  instead  of  SYS-
                    LINUX/ISOLINUX.  By  default, SYSLINUX is used for USB and
                    ISOLINUX for CD's. Use LILO if you prefer to use that boot
                    loader. NB: This does not affect which boot loader you use
                    to boot your PC, merely the boot loader used by the  media
                    created by Mondo. Use ELILO instead which is mandatory for
                    IA64 machines.


       [1m-s [4m[22msize[24m      How much can each of your backup media hold? You  may  use
                    'm'  and  'g' on the end of the number, e.g. '700m' for an
                    extra-large CD-R. You no longer need to specify  the  size
                    of your cartridges if you are backing up to tape.


       [1m-x [4m[22m'dev[24m [4m...'[24m Specify  non-Linux  partitions  which  you want to backup,
                    e.g. NTFS or BeOS.



[1mMINOR OPTIONS[0m
       [1m-[0-9]       [22mSpecify the compression level. Default is 3.  No  compres-
                    sion is 0.


       [1m-A [4m[22mcommand[24m   This  command will be called after each CD/NFS/ISO file is
                    written. It is useful if you want to do something with  an
                    ISO  after creating it, e.g. write it to a CD burner using
                    a non-standard command.  [1m-A [22munderstands two tokens - _ISO_
                    and  _CD#_ - which will be translated into the ISO's file-
                    name and its index number (1, 2,  ...)  respectively.  So,
                    you  could  use  [4m-A[24m [4m'foobackup[24m [4m_ISO_;[24m [4mrm[24m [4m-f[24m [4m_ISO_'[24m to feed
                    each ISO to some magical new backup tool.


       [1m-B [4m[22mcommand[24m   This command will be called before each CD/NFS/ISO file is
                    written. See [1m-A [22mfor more information.


       [1m-H           [22mWhen  you  boot  from the tape/CD, your hard drive will be
                    wiped and the archives will be restored. Your decision  to
                    boot from the tape/CD will be taken as consent. No further
                    permission will be sought.  [1mUse with caution.[0m


       [1m-L           [22mUse lzo, a fast compression engine, instead of bzip2.  You
                    may find lzo on Mondo's website or via FreshMeat. WARNING!
                    Some versions of LZO are unstable.


       [1m-G           [22mUse gzip,  the  standard  and  quicker  Linux  compression
                    engine, instead of bzip2.


       [1m-R           [22mEXPERIMENTAL. Do not use in mission-critical environments.
                    Star is an alternative to afio. Mondo now  supports  POSIX
                    ACLs  and extended attributes, so -R is essentially redun-
                    dant for now.


       [1m-P [4m[22mtarball[24m   Post-nuke tarball. If you boot into Nuke Mode  and  every-
                    thing  is  restored successfully then the [4mpost-nuke[24m script
                    will be sought and executed if found. This is  useful  for
                    post-restore customization. It is assumed that the tarball
                    (.tar.gz format)  will  contain  not  just  the  [4mpost-nuke[0m
                    script  (or  binary, or whatever it is) but also any files
                    it requires.


       [1m-S [4m[22mpath[24m      Specify the full pathname of the scratchdir, the directory
                    where  ISO  images are built before being archived. If you
                    have plenty of RAM and want to use a ramdisk  for  scratch
                    space, specify its path here.


       [1m-T [4m[22mpath[24m      Specify  the  full  pathname of the tempdir, the directory
                    where temporary files (other than ISO images being  assem-
                    bled) are stored. See [1m-S[0m


       [1m-W           [22mDon't  make your backup self-booting. This is a really bad
                    idea, IMO. Don't do this unless you have really great boot
                    disks in your hand and you are an anally retentive SOB who
                    can't wait 2 minutes for Mindi to run in  the  background.
                    If  you use -W then you'd better know what the hell you're
                    doing, okay?


       [1m-b           [22mSpecify the internal block size used by  the  tape  drive.
                    This  is usually 32K but some drives just don't like that.
                    They should but they don't. That's what happens when  tape
                    drive vendors don't talk to kernel driver writers. Try 512
                    or 16384.


       [1m-e           [22mDon't eject the CD or tape when backing up or restoring...
                    unless  cdrecord  insists  on it. If it does, well, tough.
                    Sorry. :)


       [1m-f [4m[22mdevice[24m    Specify the drive on which your Master Boot Record  lives.
                    Usually, this is discovered automatically.


       [1m-l [4m[22mGRUB|LILO|ELILO|RAW[0m
                    Specify  the  boot  loader.  By  default, your Master Boot
                    Record is examined and the boot loader can usually be dis-
                    covered. If you specify RAW then the MBR will be backed up
                    and restored byte-for-byte without  any  analysis.  It  is
                    likely  that you will also need to specify the boot device
                    with -f <dev>. ELILO is mandatory for IA64 machines.


       [1m-Q           [22mGive more detailed information about the boot loader.


       [1m-K [4m[22mloglevel[24m  Specify the loglevel. Use  99  for  full  debug.  Standard
                    debug level is 4.


       [1m-z           [22mUse  extended  attributes  and acl for each file and store
                    them in the backup media.  Use  this  option  if  you  use
                    SElinux e.g. but it will slow down backup and restore time
                    of course.



[1mDIAGNOSTICS[0m
       Mondo  generates  one  additional,  and   extremely   important   file:
       [1m/var/log/mondoarchive.log.  [22mWhen seeking technical support, attach this
       file to your email.




[1mFILES[0m
       [4m/var/log/mondoarchive.log[24m  This  log  contains  important   information
       required  to  analyse  mondoarchive problem reports. Did I already said
       that it's highly recommended to send this file with support  questions.


[1mNOTES[0m
       A  link to Mondo's HTML-based manual (by Bruno Cornec, Mikael Hultgren,
       Cafeole, Randy Delphs, Stan Benoit, and Hugo Rabson) may  be  found  at
       [4mhttp://www.mondorescue.org/docs.shtml[24m - or in [4m/usr/share/doc/mondo-x.xx[0m
       on your hard drive.


[1mBUGS[0m
       It is recommend that your system has more than 64 MB ram.  SCSI  device
       order  change  with nuke can have unexpected results. It is recommended
       you use expert mode with drastic hardware reconfigurations.


[1mEXAMPLES[0m
       [1mISO: [22mBackup to a directory;  note  that  /mnt/foo's  contents  will  be
       backed up except for its ISO's unless you exclude it, as follows:-
       [4mmondoarchive[24m   [4m-Oi[24m  [4m-d[24m  [4m/mnt/foo[24m  [4m-E[24m  [4m'/mnt/foo[24m  [4m/mnt/foo2'[24m  [4m-p[24m  [4m`host-[0m
       [4mname`-`date[24m [4m+%Y-%m-%d`[0m

       Backup  to  ISO's  non-interactively,  e.g.  as  a   job   running   in
       /etc/cron.daily:
       [4mmkdir[24m  [4m-p[24m  [4m/bkp/`date[24m  [4m+%A`;[24m  [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-Oi[24m [4m-9[24m [4m-d[24m [4m/bkp/`date[24m [4m+%A`[24m [4m-E[0m
       [4m/bkp[0m

       [1mDVD: [22mBackup PC using DVD Media:
       [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-OVr[24m [4m-d[24m [4m/dev/scd0[24m [4m-gF[24m [4m-s[24m [4m4480m[0m

       [1mTAPE: [22mBackup to tape, using lzo compression (WARNING -  can  be  unsta-
       ble):
       [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-Ot[24m [4m-d[24m [4m/dev/st0[24m [4m-L[0m

       Verify existing tape backup which was made with lzo compression:-
       [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-Vt[24m [4m-d[24m [4m/dev/st0[24m [4m-L[24m [4m-g[0m

       Backup to tape, using max compression:
       [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-Ot[24m [4m-9[24m [4m-d[24m [4m/dev/st0[0m

       [1mCD-R: [22mBackup to 700MB CD-R disks using a 16x CD burner:
       [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-Oc[24m [4m16[24m [4m-s[24m [4m700m[24m [4m-g[0m

       Verify existing CD-R or CD-RW backup (works for either):-
       [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-Vc[24m [4m16[0m

       [1mCD-RW: [22mBackup to 650MB CD-RW disks using a 4x CD ReWriter:
       [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-Ow[24m [4m4[0m

       Backup  just your /home and /etc directory to 650MB CD-RW disks using a
       4x CD ReWriter:
       [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-Ow[24m [4m4[24m [4m-I[24m [4m"/home[24m [4m/etc"[0m

       [1mNFS: [22mBackup to an NFS mount:
       [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-On[24m [4m192.168.1.2:/home/nfs[24m [4m-d[24m [4m/Monday[24m [4m-E[24m [4m/mnt/nfs[0m

       Verify existing NFS backup:-
       [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-Vn[24m [4m192.168.1.2:/home/nfs[24m [4m-d[24m [4m/Monday[0m

       [1mUSB: [22mBackup to your USB key, using gzip compression:
       [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-OU[24m [4m-d[24m [4m/dev/sda[24m [4m-G[0m

       [1mRAID: [22mBackup PC to a Software Raid mount point, iso size 700mb:
       [4mmondoarchive[24m [4m-O[24m [4m-s[24m [4m700m[24m [4m-d[24m [4m/mnt/raid[0m



[1mSEE ALSO[0m
       afio(1), bzip2(1), find(1), mindi(8), mondorestore(8).

[1mAUTHORS[0m
       Bruno Cornec (lead-development) [4mbruno_at_mondorescue.org[0m
       Andree Leidenfrost (co-developper) [4maleidenf_at_bigpond.net.au[0m

[1mORIGINAL AUTHORS[0m
       Hugo Rabson (original author) [4mhugo.rabson_at_mondorescue.org[0m
       Jesse Keating (original RPM packager) [4mhosting_at_j2solutions.net[0m
       Stan Benoit (testing) [4mtroff_at_nakedsoul.org[0m
       Mikael Hultgren (docs) [4mmikael_hultgren_at_gmx.net[0m
       See mailing list at http://www.mondorescue.org for technical support.



Mondo Rescue 2.2.5-rPBVER         2008-03-23                   mondoarchive(8)
